


Acting Out

by Kattwyllie



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Explicit Language, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-09-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:01:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26577217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kattwyllie/pseuds/Kattwyllie
Relationships: Casey Novak & You, Casey Novak/Reader
Kudos: 15





	Acting Out

“Detective Novak?” A timid voice called down the hallway. Your head glanced over to look at the Uni, a confused expression on your face, you were in the middle of watching an interrogation alongside your wife, “We’ve-uh..got a situation downstairs…”

“You can’t handle it yourselves?”

“Uh…not exactly…” You gave a huff, a roll of the eyes, Casey almost felt sorry for the uni as you shot him a glare, trudging after him down the hallway. You weren’t exactly sure what was going on that warranted the need of a senior detective, but he seemed pretty adamant that it was you that addressed the situation. The issue became very apparent when he stepped out of your way, gesturing towards the lock up.

“Elyse?! What the hell?!”

“Mom! Thank God!” You certainly never thought you’d see your daughter behind bars, especially considering she’d been raised by a cop and a lawyer. You didn’t miss the way her words were slightly slurring, the teeny stumble as she lunged towards the bars, towards you. You turned to the uni, 

“What’d you collar her with?”

“Public intoxication. Her BAC was .23 when we picked her up. Also found this on the table, she’s claiming it’s hers…” He held up a small baggie that you had no doubt was cocaine.

“Jesus Christ. What exactly do you think you’re doing? You were supposed to be at a sleepover at Kara’s!”

“We went out…” 

“Did you want me to…” The uni made a little wave of his hand, insinuating the use of your badge to make the whole thing disappear. 

“I— hold on.” You grabbed your phone, waiting for an answer, “Hey, you need to get down here.” You turned back to your daughter, “You wanna try to explain this?”

“We had a few drinks.”

“You’re _sixteen_ Elyse! You know better than that! And in public? What is _wrong_ with you?”

“This is so unfair! At least something finally got your attention!” She shot back, you were taken aback by her comment, sure you worked a lot, but you were always home for dinner, and Casey was always there to send her off to school in the mornings.

“And what about the drugs?!”

“What drugs??!” Casey’s voice rung out from behind you, “What exactly is going on here?” She was shocked as she took in the situation in front of her, a sight she certainly had never expected to see.

“Somebody here thought it was a good idea to lie to her parents and go out drinking in Central Park, group got caught with coke and she’s claiming it’s hers…” You replied, turning to face the woman. “What’re we looking at?”

“Public intoxication’s a $1000 fine or six months in county, possessions a year.”

“You hear that? $1000, you can kiss that new MacBook goodbye.”

“Oh please, if I’m getting charged a fine you’ll just pay for it.” Elyse shot back.

“You’ve got a savings account, don’t think that’s not where that’s coming from.” Casey retorted, “You pull another stunt like this and you can fucking forget about that girls trip to the Hamptons, understood? You’ll be stuck at home with strict supervision. You’re certainly not going to be hanging out with Kara anymore, and you’re going to tell the truth about the drugs. Now.”

“Yes Mom…” Elyse immediately submitted to Casey, knowing she couldn’t exactly fight with someone who fought for a living.

“Oh nice try, you don’t get to play the victim all of a sudden, you were the one in cuffs tonight young lady.” Casey wasn’t about to let up anytime soon, “Now spill it.”

“They’re—mine.”

“You really wanna face a year in jail Elyse?” You nearly shouted, outraged, knowing that despite whatever was going on with your daughter she would never be the type to end up dabbling with drugs, especially in a public place. You tugged out your phone again, turning away from the cell.

“Who’re you calling?” Casey asked, wondering what your next move was.

“Melinda.” You muttered back, turning back towards your daughter, “If your tox screen comes back positive for anything aside from booze you’re done for, you understand that?” She gave you a weak nod as you directed your attention to the uni, “Leave her in there, I’m working the night shift, I’ll pick her up in the morning when I’m done.”

“What?! Mom no!!” You shot her a near death glare, nodding to the uni.

“You deserve a night to think about your mistakes, deal with the consequences of your actions. You’ve been nothing but disobedient the last couple of months, maybe this will finally teach you a lesson.” Casey was proud at the way you’d handled the entire thing, usually you were the soft one when it came to Elyse, letting her get away with more than she ever would, having to play bad cop. Though, this was definitely a lot more than a normal outburst of bad behaviour, she did know that whatever was actually going on, you’d be able to get out of your daughter a hell of a lot faster than she would, Elyse had always been more open and confiding when it came to you, something about your detective personality made her open up more. 

*

It was 7 hours later when you were finally finished the overnight shift, signing Elyse out of the cell block on the intoxication charges, letting the uni know that you’d sort out the possession ones quickly. You dragged her to the car, as she got in you could tell she was on edge and obviously hadn’t slept much.

“You wanna tell me about the coke now?” You began, “Cause there was none in your system so I doubt it was yours.” She gave a weary sigh, no doubt exhausted from her night in lock up,

“It was Lindsey’s…I swear I wasn’t going to do any! I know how bad it is, but, when the cops showed up..we panicked, Lindsey already got busted for possession a year ago, I knew if she went down for it again she’d end up in actual jail. I figured I’d be able to get out of it…” She trailed off, unable to meet your eye.

“If you really think I’m gonna get you out of any trouble you get into you’re an idiot, you know that, right?”

“Yeah…I—am….am I actually in trouble for this?”

“That fine is certainly coming out of your savings, you were drunk Elyse, and that’s something neither me or your Momma condone. Otherwise we’ll have to talk it over with her, if you keep claiming the drugs are yours you’ll end up in juvie. I understand you wanting to protect your friends but you’re too giving, would Lindsey have done the same thing for you?” Elyse paused for a minute, digesting your words, twiddling with her hands as she thought.

“I..I don’t think so. I don’t really know her.”

“Then you need to flip on her. I can’t make a possession charge go away, this is serious Elyse, please don’t keep protecting someone you barely know. More importantly why on earth have you been acting like this recently? I need to know what’s going on in that little head of yours. You’re usually the best daughter a girl could ask for but you’ve been sneaking out, lying, going to parties, drinking….what the hell?”

“I—I…I’m just…Momma’s never home. And when she is she’s in her office busy working, she barely pays attention to us, she’s always thinking of a case instead of loving us.”

“Oh sweetheart…” Your heart broke as you pulled into the parking spot, a hand reaching out to squeeze at her shoulder, “Momma loves you, she loves us, more than anything in the entire world. Work just takes up a lot of time. You don’t need to act out to get our attention baby, we love you beyond any belief everyday of our lives.”

“Yeah well how come you’re the one catching the bad guys and you’re at home more?”

“Because Momma has one hell of a lot tougher job proving they did it. All I have to do is throw them in a cell, ask them some questions, she has to prove that they did it, spend months in court, battle countless counter arguments, her job is much more important than mine.” You watched Elyse give a shaky breath, “Hey…she loves you more than you could ever imagine okay? Just because she throws herself into her work at an insane rate doesn’t mean otherwise, it was something I had to get used to when we first started dating. She’s just like that. She loves you, believe me.” You swiftly moved out of the car, walking around it to meet your daughter in a tight hug, holding her against you, kissing her hair softly, “I love you. But right now you need to go upstairs and get ready for school.”

“Mom!”

“We’ll order pizza and watch Tangled tonight, as long as Momma’s not too pissed.”

“Ugh, fine.” Oh the joys of raising a teenager. You were sure to quickly search through her backpack before she left, making sure there wasn’t anything you didn’t approve of, reminding her she was still on thin ice. Casey had already left for the day, your overnight shift had drained you, collapsing against your bed as you called her phone.

“Hey baby.” She greeted, “You get things sorted out?”

“Mostly. But i will need you home for dinner tonight, no ifs ands or buts.” Casey nearly stalled at that, 

“Everything okay?”

“She misses you. A lot, thinks you’re not around enough and when you are you’re engrossed with work.”

“Shit. Baby I’m sorry.”

“It’s not me you need to apologize to my love. I came to terms with it years ago, I know how you are, but she doesn’t.” Casey’s heart fell in her chest, she was well aware of how many hours she worked, how she was always away from home and how that affected her family life but she didn’t realize it was this bad. She loved you more than anything else in the world, and Elyse, she loved that little miracle just as much, she was her light in a dark world surrounded by crime. Truthfully, she was a bit hard on the girl, but only because you were always so soft, letting her get away with more, she had to play bad cop. She set an alarm on her phone right then to make sure she would be leaving the office at the right time to make it for dinner. 

*

When Casey got home she greeted you in the kitchen with a soft kiss before making her way down the hall to Elyse’s room, knocking gently on the doorframe. 

“You here to yell at me again?” The teen grumbled, barely looking up from her homework.

“No. I’m here to apologize.” That certainly took her by surprise, looking up at Casey as she moved into the room. “Don’t think I’m not mad about what happened, because I still am, and honestly I’m disappointed too, but I do owe you an apology. Sweetheart, I’m sorry I’m not around more, I know that you know my work is important, but I don’t ever want you to think that it’s more important than you okay? You and your Mom are my number ones, I love you more than anything else in the world.”

“But even when you’re here you’re always working.” Elyse accepted Casey’s arm around her, leaning into the embrace, feeling the gentle kiss Casey gave her hair.

“You know you’re allowed in the office, right? You don’t think your Mom pesters me all the time in there?”

“Then you guys end up fighting…”

“I’d say it’s more like bickering.” She sighed, “And it’s usually over a case, things that she wants me to be able to do that legally I can’t, or there isn’t enough evidence to charge, she just wants to get justice for the victims. We’re never actually mad at each other.”

“Promise?”

“I promise. I’m sorry for never being here, I also promise you that we’ll make Sunday’s our own days from now on, okay?”

“Really?” Elyse shifted, looking up at her.

“Yes. Just us, no work. As long as you promise to stop with the rule breaking. I know you think they suck, but they’re in place for a reason, and that’s to keep you safe. That’s all we want, is for you to be safe and loved.” 

“I know…”

“Okay.” Casey gave her a tight squeeze and a soft kiss on the forehead, “Now finish up that homework, Mom’s almost done with dinner. I love you.”

“I love you too.” Elyse muttered, feeling a little bit better about the entire situation. Though she knew she was still grounded for the next month, a punishment well deserved considering she’d been arrested the night before. She knew Casey’s job was important, and took a lot of time, she had just missed her Moms, she’d been feeling a little deserted over the past few months.

Truthfully, you and Casey had been trying to give her a little bit more freedom, remembering what it was like being a teenage with overbearing parents, the main rule was to text to tell you where she was so you didn’t have to be too concerned. When the bad behaviour started, you’d figured it was just the average sixteen year old drama, completely missing the warning signs. Elyse slowly started to open up over the next few days, and you were able to get it all out of her. The three of you made a pact to spend more time together, more time at home if you could, scheduling regular family dinners that no one was allowed to bail on once a week, Sunday’s were the designated Mother-Daughter time with Casey while you were working. More paperwork found its way into the house, often being done alongside Elyse’s homework at the kitchen table, once you found a rhythm, it was easy to fall into it. 

Not surprisingly, everyone was happier, spending much more quality time around the people that they loved the most.


End file.
